


the beacon

by epsiloneridani



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Return of the Jedi, anakin's final moments aboard the death star
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27277078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epsiloneridani/pseuds/epsiloneridani
Summary: But you’re not alone,” the voice tells him, and it’s so gentle it brings tears to Anakin’s eyes. All this time – all this death – all his loss – the rest of his life: and he is kind. “You never have been.”“Obi-Wan,” Anakin whispers. A phantom touch brushes across his brow, and all at once Obi-Wan is there. His smile is soft, not worn.“Hello, old friend,” Obi-Wan says. “It’s been too long.”
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 33
Kudos: 236





	the beacon

Anakin burns.

His breath leaves him in a strained wheeze. His chest is heavy. The air is thick: the reactor smokes and seethes, far below. He takes a second’s comfort in the thought that Palpatine has been scorched to a charred husk by it, but it’s too brief, too broken, and then it’s gone.

Luke heeded him. Luke let go.

But Anakin holds on.

There is no light waiting for him on the other side: he’ll close his eyes and his spark will flicker and fail and that will be the end. The Force is vast, the Force is vibrant. Cosmic. Infinite.

It will swallow him, not spare him.

There is a secret to life beyond life, they said. Palpatine searched for it, tore and screamed and swore he knew it. What he promised Anakin he denied Vader. And now, lying shuddering on the deck of a station born to bring death, Anakin knows there is no such secret. Palpatine lied and twisted and turned and Anakin, in rage, and Anakin, in pain, and Anakin, in furious, desperate faith, seized that false oath between his trembling palms and swung his saber and cleaved his solace and filled his lungs with hate.

It is such a quiet thing, to fall, but far more terrible is to admit it. Old masters. Ancient texts. He found in them no peace. He set them aflame. The Temple still seethes: in his dreams, he walks the halls he scarred. He feels the heat. Hears the screams. The Force burns truth like a beacon.

Let go.

His throat is tight. Nothing to be done for that, now. There’s a haze at the edge of his vision. He blinks against it. Just a moment longer. Just a moment, before the tide rises and he slips into the depths. The light is just as inevitable as the dark. Stars burn, stars die, but it’s their final chaos that pulses bright; their last memory is not of silence or sorrow; they do not remember the void.

They remember fire and life.

Ahsoka, smiling, beaming, bright. Rex, laughing, ever steady at his side. Fives. Echo. He reaches for their ghosts. Sunlight bursts in his chest and he tries not to choke.

Let go.

Obi-Wan’s hand is on his shoulder. He’s smiling. He’s proud: his lips are moving, are forming words, but Anakin’s ears are ringing too loudly to hear him. He wants to rush into his arms and cling tight; he wants to bury his face in Obi-Wan’s shoulder and cry. He remembers the saber’s searing path every time he closes his eyes. He told himself it was good, told himself it was right, but with every breath, with every step, he felt a loss too deep for words. He can’t speak. He can’t breathe. He just wants to hold.

Let go.

He doesn’t want to face the end alone.

“But you’re not alone,” the voice tells him, and it’s so gentle it brings tears to Anakin’s eyes. All this time – all this death – all his loss – the rest of his life: and he is kind. “You never have been.”

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin whispers. A phantom touch brushes across his brow, and all at once Obi-Wan is there. His smile is soft, not worn.

“Hello, old friend,” Obi-Wan says. “It’s been too long.”

_I’m sorry_. The words catch. Anakin blinks fiercely.

Obi-Wan’s palm settles over his heart. “I’m here,” he says, and there’s a catch to his voice too. “It’s all right, Anakin. I’m here.”

Obi-Wan is solid and warm, a pillar of solace in the storm. When Anakin was young and scared and saw menace in every shadow, saw terror in every corner, Obi-Wan was beside him, rubbing soothing circles into his back and whispering _I’m here, I’m here_ until the tension drained away and he remembered how to breathe. Here, now, at the end – here now, after everything he did: that hasn’t changed. Father. Brother. Betrayed.

“Stay,” Anakin croaks, a plea for a comfort to which he has no right. “Please.”

“I will never leave you,” Obi-Wan says. “It’s all right, Anakin. Let go.”

The chasm yawns wide before him. The maw gapes. On its precipice, he trembles.

“It’s all right,” Obi-Wan repeats. There’s no urgency to his tone. Just calm. Anakin feels like a small boy again, at the mercy of the monsters he so feared and then became. “Let go.”

He’ll fall. He’ll drown. He’ll bathe in the bright and it will burn him to eternity.

“It won’t,” Obi-Wan murmurs. “Let go, Anakin. I’m here.”

“I can’t.”

Obi-Wan stood between him and the dark until Anakin shattered his shield and stepped into the shards and chose. The Force swells, sings. There’s a weight about his shoulders. There’s a warmth in his chest. The fear suffocates – fades. He’s safe. Obi-Wan is here.

Of course he’s safe.

“It’s all right,” Obi-Wan says again. “Let go, Anakin. Come home.”

Anakin closes his eyes. His final breath is even. Easy.

When he wakes, he wakes to light.

Obi-Wan is before him, clad in his robes. His hands are folded. He looks as he did before the Clone Wars: regal and serene. There’s a peace in his eyes Anakin hasn’t seen since he was a padawan.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan says, like an exhale or a whisper or a muffled sob of a cry. His eyes gleam; tears spill down his cheeks. He closes the distance between them in two steps, wraps his arms around Anakin, and pulls him close.

“I’m sorry.” The words fall in a tangled rush, broken and burdened. Anakin’s breath stops in his throat. I’m sorry, he says, as if that can mend the ruin wrought by his rage. “I’m so sorry.”

Obi-Wan’s hand presses to the back of Anakin’s skull and cradles him against his shoulder. “I know,” he says. His voice cracks. “Oh, Anakin. I know.”

In this life beyond life, Obi-Wan is a bastion of love and light. The Force burns truth like a beacon.

Welcome home.

\--

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [jate-kara](https://jate-kara.tumblr.com/) over on tumblr if you wanna come yell with me!


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